by James Slater – Having made a most successful U.S debut on May 15th, when he stopped Paulie Malignaggi in a well received fight, WBA light-welterweight ruler Amir Khan wanted to get back in the ring as soon as possible. Very much hoping he would fight “a big U.S name” on July 31st in his native U.K, Khan Vs. Joel Casamayor was reportedly in the works for London.
However, in a news story that has appeared on several internet web sites, Khan’s July 31st fight will almost certainly be scrapped and a winter return for the 23-year-old looks likely instead. The reason is The World Cup has just started, and during the summer holidays it is not prime time for a boxing pay-per-view event. So says Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, anyway – in talking to ESPN.co.uk..
“After the World cup and during the summer holidays is not a good time to do pay-per-view,” Schaefer said. “Given the success of the Malignaggi fight, which got great viewing figures in America, it might not be the best thing to have a poor pay-per-view. Better to wait.”
Khan, who defended his WBA 140-pound belt for the second time when he halted “The Magic Man” in New York, wanted to get a fight in before the start of the August Muslim festival Ramadam. Seeing as how this will not happen now, Khan’s next fight could be as late as October or November. And, according to Schaefer, Khan will box in either the U.K or the U.S, and the opponent will likely be either Marcos Maidana, the WBA interim champ, or Juan Manuel Marquez, the WBO lightweight king.
Schaefer feels a Khan-Marquez fight would be bigger than Khan-Maidana, IF the Mexican can get past old foe Juan Diaz on July 31st in Las Vegas.
“Amir and Freddie Roach tell me they want Maidana, but I think Marquez, if he beats Juan Diaz in their rematch, will be bigger,” Schaefer said. “That fight could be in England or in the U.S.”
The majority of fans, judging by their comments, would prefer it if Khan (finally) agreed to face Argentine slugger Maidana, but a fight with Marquez would almost certainly go down well too. Joel Casamayor may be disappointed to not be getting his chance at Khan in July (he had reportedly even started training for the fight, a fight he had predicted he would win by KO), but in truth, that fight was not such a great match-up anyway.
Now, after he’s taken care of his Ramadam duties, Khan can return to the ring against a formidable challenger. No disrespect to Casamayor, but at almost 40, and having been far from active as of late, would he really have beaten Khan?